How To Prepare For A Pest Control Treatment (And Why It's So Important)

Rats scurrying across the floor of your home? Cockroaches slipping through the cracks as soon as you turn on the light? While you may have already tried using some common kitchen ingredients for DIY pest control, sometimes hiring professionals is an essential next step. Pest control professionals are great at what they do and can help get the job done right, ridding your home of pests for good. However, if you've scheduled an exterminator visit, you should prepare your home before their arrival.

It's a good idea to ask a pest control professional what they would like you to do before they arrive, in case they have any specific requests. Generally, you should focus on decluttering so that the exterminators can work as easily as possible and get to any spots that they'll need to reach. Prepping your home and ensuring it's as clean as possible will make it easier for them to apply the treatment and will give them the best chance of eliminating your infestation once and for all. 

When getting ready for pest control treatment, aim to make your home as accessible as possible. Remove clutter to ensure exterminators can easily enter all areas of your home. Especially be sure they have easy access to your basement, attic, garage and other dark areas where pests are most likely to be hiding. It's also ideal to push appliances away from the walls in your kitchen to help them have better access. Professionals will likely spend time targeting this part of the home. You may also want to push appliances away from the wall in other rooms of your home as well so that the walls are easy to get to. To provide even better access in your home, open all doors and drawers in the home before professionals arrive. 

It's also important to keep pets and kids out of the way when a pest control professional arrives to keep them safe and prevent them from getting in the way. Exterminators will work more efficiently if they aren't distracted.  Finally, make sure that you're at your home when pest control professionals arrive. It's best if you're there to let them in, help them gain access to various areas, and discuss your problem with them further. This will help them take the best approach to protecting your home.

There are a few things that you should do after a pest control visit as well. For one, avoid cleaning or mopping up any chemicals or products that exterminators have used immediately after application. Let it remain as it is so that it can do its job. You'll want to discuss the needs of the treatment with the professionals to get a better idea of when you should continue cleaning as you normally do. 

On the other hand, you should continue tidying up and cleaning your home after a pest control treatment. Be sure to keep kitchen and dining areas clean and avoid leaving crumbs around. Keep your home tidy and avoid doing anything that could attract pests. Additionally, you should also seal cracks and entryways to your home to ensure that more aren't able to get inside.

Remember to pay close attention to your home once the pest control professionals have left. There may be some pests that remain or new ones may arrive in your home after the pest control treatment is complete. You may want to take a few additional steps to remove any pests that remain and keep insects out of your house for good. If necessary, you may need to call exterminators again to provide your home with another treatment.